Corner lot landscaping ordinance - line of sight is important for vehicle safety

Neighborhood traffic issues have been a topic of much discussion over in the Belwood neighborhood and elsewhere in Los Gatos. Residents are upset about speeding, ignoring or rolling through stop signs, cutting through residentail areas rather than taking major roads and, of course, zipping around corners dangerously.

Perhaps part of the problem with corners is that many corner lots have been heavily landscaped such that there is no "line of sight" over the top of the yard.  The idea is that if you are turning right on a corner, for instance, there should not be a tall hedge or fence which prevents you from seeing if a car is parked there, a child is playing in the street (not allowed but a fairly common practice) or some other obstruction is unseen.  Maybe you were aware that corner lots cannot have a tall fence all the way around (there's a "fence sight triangle" or "corner sight triangle" of visibility required), but the same principle applies to bushes, shrubs and trees also, and for the same reason: safety.

Did you know that the town of Los Gatos has an ordinance or municiple code which addresses this topic? 

Sec. 26.10.065. - Obstructions at corners of intersecting streets.

The owner or occupant of any corner lot or premises in the Town shall keep trees, hedges and growth at the corners of intersecting streets, whether between the curb line and the private lot line, or within the private lot or premises, so trimmed that the height of the same shall not exceed three (3) feet above the curb level for a distance of thirty (30) feet measured horizontally in any direction from the point of intersection of the property lines at street corners; provided, that trees whose main trunks are exposed to a height of seven and one-half (7½) feet above the curb need not be so trimmed or cut.

(Code 1968, § 31-15)

Elsewhere, it's made clear that fences are included in this visual clearance area for corner lots:

In residential zones, fences, hedges, and walls not over six (6) feet high are allowed on or within all property lines, except that no owner or occupant of any corner lot or premises in the Town shall erect or maintain upon such lot or premises any fence, hedge or wall higher than three (3) feet above the curb in a traffic view area unless a permit is secured from the Town Engineer. A traffic view area is the area which is within fifteen (15) feet of a public street and within two hundred (200) feet of the right-of-way line of an intersection.

A couple of months back I saw the part about 6' limit on hedges generally and noticed that our front yard hedge was more than that so got our gardeners to bring it down and into compliance. (I'd like to get rid of it entirely, actually - but need to have a plan to relandscape the whole yard before Jim will let me selectively remove stuff). 

This visual below is probably more helpful than the wording on the town's website (though this came from the section on fences, it seems to apply to landscaping as well):

I'm sure that many Los Gatos homeowners and residents aren't aware of this at all. (I wasn't until this week when a neighbor mentioned it to me.) Perhaps, with our other traffic calming and safety improvment measures, we could address the lack of visibility due to thick hedges, bushes and trees at many of these corner lots.  It will no doubt be unpopular to raise awareness of this issue as often this landscaping was very beautifully planned and serves a purpose of providing privacy, a noise and headlight buffer and more for those who live in the corner houses.  But safety should be a first priority.

Finally, while having neighbors with overgrown or heavily landscaped corner lots probably does not have a direct, negative impact on real estate values, having speeding and other traffic safety issues certainly does.  When I bring my realty clients out to view homes and they see cars ignoring stop signs, screeting around corners or otherwise misbehaving, it makes them less inclined to want to buy a house or condo in that area. In the long run, whatever contributes to traffic and safety problems also contributes to a lessening of desireability to likely home buyers too.  And that, of course, pulls real estate sales prices and values down.

RE: Corner lot landscaping ordinance - line of sight is important for vehicle safety

City ordinances are much more difficult to keep people informed with and to enforce than HOA regulations are. As much of a pain HOAs can be, they serve a great purpose. If you had one in this community, there would be an easy way to let everyone know what was expected, to remind people when something needed to be address, and if it came to it - to enforce the rules when they aren't obeyed.